This week, The Atlantic released its newest issue, provocatively titled &#8220;How to Stop a Civil War.&#8221; Leading its collection of essays is a fascinating piece by Yoni Applebaum. In it, Applebaum posits that at the crux of America&#8217;s vitriolic politics lies demographic change: &#8220;The United States is undergoing a transition perhaps no rich and stable democracy has ever experienced: Its historically dominant group is on its way to becoming a political minority — and its minority groups are asserting their co-equal rights and interests.&#8221;
This, he suggests, has led to an impasse for the center-right, which refuses to adapt to changing demographics, instead doubling down on President Donald Trump&#8217;s white, working-class base. Applebaum explains, &#8220;When a group that has traditionally exercised power comes to believe that its eclipse is inevitable, and that the destruction of all it holds dear will follow, it will fight to preserve what it has — whatever the cost.&#8221;
But Applebaum&#8217;s thesis doesn&#8217;t explain why, in his view, conservatives have abandoned the attempt to persuade new populations. Applebaum himself acknowledges that a &#8220;conservatism defined by ideas can hold its own against progressivism, winning converts to its principles and evolving with each generation.&#8221; Why, then, have conservatives supposedly given up?
The answer lies in a simple truth: Conservatives haven&#8217;t despaired of winning over new converts.
While a slight majority of Republicans believe that immigration should be reduced, pluralities or majorities of Republicans in the majority of polls believe that immigration is good for the country; a heavy majority of Republicans favor a &#8220;merit-based&#8221; immigration approach.
Conservative opposition to increased immigration isn&#8217;t driven by fears of demographic change. It&#8217;s driven by fear of ideological change. And that fear of ideological change is actually driven by Democrats&#8217; radicalism — and their overt suggestion that demographic change will provide the fodder for that radicalism.
Applebaum rightly states, &#8220;The United States possesses a strong radical tradition, but its most successful social movements have generally adopted the language of conservatism, framing their calls for change as an expression of America&#8217;s founding ideals rather than as a rejection of them.&#8221;
But today&#8217;s successful social movements — the movements of the Democratic left — no longer bother with such niceties. Instead, they declare that America was, has been and always will be a racist place, riven by hierarchies of power, a corrupt structure to be overturned by that emerging demographic majority. These movements overtly call for curbing essential American freedoms — freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom of religion — in order to overthrow the corrupt power structure. The Democratic left then insists that immigration levels be increased both legally and illegally and suggests that its opponents are driven by unbridled racism.
In essence, the Democrats have decided that rather than expanding the application of American principles to new groups, they prefer to fundamentally change the definition of American principles and utilize immigration policy to facilitate that change. No wonder conservatives have responded by calling for immigration restrictions.
Conservatism must indeed root out and destroy any elements of race-driven policy from its midst. Conservatism speaks every language and can reside in any human heart. If the left wishes to avoid a civil war, it can start by doing the same: refraining from the argument that demographic change innately signals rewriting the definition of Americanism, and arguing in favor of that revision.

Migrant Caravan

SHAPIRO: Are Conservative Immigration Restrictionists Racist?

Conservatism

Illegal Immigration

Immigration

Progressivism

Race

Ben Shapiro

WATCH: Ben Shapiro Dismantles The Left&#8217;s Claim That America Was Built On Slavery

American History

Racism

Slavery

Boston University&#8217;s minority student group Black BU issued an open letter to the university community Tuesday expressing their feelings of being &#8220;abandoned, triggered, frustrated, disheartened, devalued, infuriated, overwhelmed, ignored,&#8221; and &#8220;embarrassed of the university&#8221; because it is allowing Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro to give a speech on Wednesday titled &#8220;America Was Not Built On Slavery; It Was Built On Freedom.&#8221;
The letter, which was obtained and published by <a href="https://www.yaf.org/news/embarrassed-of-bu-shapiros-boston-university-lecture-title-triggers-black-bu/">Young America&#8217;s Foundation</a>, the organization sponsoring the Shapiro event, begins by stressing what Shapiro&#8217;s famous tagline directly addresses: &#8220;feelings.&#8221;
&#8220;Abandoned, triggered, frustrated, disheartened, devalued, infuriated, overwhelmed, ignored, embarrassed of BU. This is how we feel. This is how BU has made us feel,&#8221; the student group writes (screenshot of letter below). &#8220;This is how our peers, the Young Americans for Freedom and those who condone their actions have made us feel. Facts don&#8217;t care about feelings, but we look beyond the facts to the faces and fake smiles that greet us day in and out on this campus. This reminds us that we are not one BU, that BU is not designed for us, and this BU does not belong to use just as our bodies and our minds do not and have not belonged to us since our rights as human beings were stripped away in the wake of slavery.&#8221;
The student org then specifies what has elicited such strong emotions among members: the title of Shapiro&#8217;s speech. &#8220;We do not speak for the 900 Black faces on this campus, but we do speak for the 133 students who mobilized on November 11, 2019 within 151 minutes to denounce this school&#8217;s support of Ben Shapiro&#8217;s actions, words, and most importantly, the name of this event: &#8216;American Was Not Built On Slavery; It Was Built On Freedom.'&#8221;
Though Shapiro has repeatedly and forcefully condemned the evils of slavery and addressed its economic and societal role in the U.S. until it was finally abolished through the Civil War, the student group accuses Shapiro of &#8220;denying slavery&#8221; and its economic role in the creation of the U.S.
&#8220;To deny slavery, and its economic role in the creation of the US as a nation is to deny the systematic degradation of Black bodies, the generational trauma, natal alienation, and social death that has marked and affected Black communities in the US since 1619, the birth of slavery on US soil as we know, and consequently, the birth of America.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">The New York Times</a> has helped popularize the concept that the U.S. was not founded in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, but in 1619 when the first African slaves arrived in the colonies. The alternative &#8220;founding&#8221; date allows the social justice left to describe the U.S. as indelibly defined by slavery and institutional racism despite the abolishment of the evil institution over a century and half ago and all the progress since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in eliminating institutional racism.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to reject and refute language that emboldens the ideologies of white supremacy,&#8221; the letter continues. &#8220;Rejecting and dismissing the impact of slavery furthers the plight of Black people, and it is on us to combat this racist hegemony that exists.&#8221;
&#8220;This school constantly boasts about their most famous alumni, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but by endorsing a conversation titled, &#8216;America Was Not Built On Slavery; It Was Built On Freedom&#8217; this institution is ostracizing the very community that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for,&#8221; the group claims. &#8220;What about our ancestors who were exploited and forced to work for free. Are they forgotten? Will we continue to deny the magnitude of this country&#8217;s past? The foundation of this country is instutionalized racism that continues to affect our community today, and by allowing a conversation with this title, they are ignoring a past, present, and hope for the future that affects us every day. We cannot escape this reality. Our voices will be heard. We will not be silent because it is our duty to combat the negligence that this title creates.&#8221;
The student group then issues &#8220;not a plea or a protest&#8221; but a &#8220;demand&#8221;: &#8220;So, we come to you with this. It is not a plea or a protest, but rather a demand that for once, BU turns to the students who decry instances of passive and active, micro-aggressive actions and acknowledge our disdain and the sour taste on our lips leftover by the administration&#8217;s compliance with hateful speech. We demand to be heard, to be listened to, and to finally be acknowledged as our own advocates.&#8221;
They then rebuke those &#8220;allies&#8221; who assume they need their &#8220;megaphone&#8221; to speak out. &#8220;To the students who extend their allyship, thank you, but we speak for ourselves and do not need your megaphone to amplify our already vocal voices.&#8221; Next, they turn their focus on the administration, to whom they issue a warning: &#8220;To the administration, know that our eyes are wide open, we see you, and know that your actions do not go unwatched.&#8221;
Finally, the group addresses their &#8220;true allies,&#8221; including Palestinian students and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and by which they expressly do not mean students with &#8220;privilege to protest,&#8221; as if some groups are not allowed this First Amendment right. &#8220;To our true allies, the Palestinian students, the LGBTQIA+ students, and any of the other students whose power does not lie in their privilege to protest, we stand in solidarity with you and among you,&#8221; the letter reads. &#8220;We keep our minds and hearts open and welcome you with love into our community.&#8221;
&#8220;But before we close, we remind you why we began,&#8221; Black BU concludes. &#8220;America was, in fact, built on slavery, on the backs of Black people, plagued with pain, sorrow, and disregard, so this brings us to ask those who condone this event and title: whose Freedom?&#8221;
In response, Shapiro told The Daily Wire, &#8220;It&#8217;s supremely typical of campus radicals to dismiss the content of a speech they haven&#8217;t heard, and to pre-emptively mischaracterize its content. But listening is more difficult than posturing.&#8221;
&#8220;Suffice it to say, I have never and will never downplay the horrors or legacy of slavery,&#8221; said Shapiro. &#8220;America is, however, the greatest force for freedom in world history; the darknesses of our past are an essential part of our story, but they are not what makes America unique and special.&#8221;
&#8220;As to the question — whose freedom does America stand for? — the answer is, all of ours. Which is why they have the right to protest, and I have the right to speak,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I look forward to all of us exercising our rights tomorrow.&#8221;
Though in their letter the Black BU accuses Shapiro of promoting &#8220;white supremacy,&#8221; Shapiro&#8217;s speech at Boston University comes less than a week after his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-shapiro-dismantles-the-alt-right-and-radical-lefts-dangerous-game">speech at Stanford</a> in which he dedicated a majority of his speech to dismantling the racist, &#8220;white identity&#8221; ideology espoused by the Alt-Right.
Below is a screenshot of the Black BU open letter via <a href="https://www.yaf.org/news/embarrassed-of-bu-shapiros-boston-university-lecture-title-triggers-black-bu/">YAF</a>:
<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-31580 lazyloaded" src="https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-1024x503.png" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-1024x503.png 1024w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-300x147.png 300w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-768x377.png 768w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-67x33.png 67w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-480x236.png 480w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-600x295.png 600w" alt="" width="1024" height="503" data-lazy-srcset="https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-1024x503.png 1024w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-300x147.png 300w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-768x377.png 768w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-67x33.png 67w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-480x236.png 480w, https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-600x295.png 600w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" data-lazy-src="https://www.yaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-12.27.51-PM-1024x503.png" data-was-processed="true" />
&nbsp;

Boston University Student Group &#8216;Triggered&#8217; By Ben Shapiro Speech Title; Shapiro Responds

Boston University

Education

Kanye West continued to spread his message of independent thinking this week, when he advised black Americans that they do not always have to vote for Democrats.
During an interview at the Fast Company Innovation Festival, West said that the phrase &#8220;black power&#8221; does not mean voting for the Democratic Party forever.
&#8220;Own your power. Your power is not to just vote Democrat for the rest of our lives. That’s not the power,&#8221; West said, as reported by <a href="https://pagesix.com/2019/11/07/kanye-west-goes-on-whirlwind-nyc-trip-promoting-yeezy-presidential-run/">Page Six</a>. &#8220;The power is when I talk to my lawyer … I put on my trench coat and said, &#8216;We’re moving these factories to America, and that’s how it’s going to be&#8217; — and it’s lovely. We moved the headquarters to Cody, Wyoming … Our goal is to bring the manufacturing back to America — South America, North America — bring it back stateside and to present jobs for people back here.&#8221;
Kanye West has been on a bit of a MAGA roll with the release of his latest album &#8220;Jesus is King.&#8221; Speaking with radio personality Big Boy in a recent interview, West decried cancel culture as well as Democratic policies that have allegedly brainwashed black Americans into a cycle of self-destruction.
&#8220;I’ve been canceled before. That was canceled culture. Who told you that my career would be over? The same people that are telling you that you can’t have a right to say who you will vote for,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-kanye-west-trashes-cancel-culture-racial-politics-abortion-in-lengthy-interview">West said</a>. &#8220;Those people will be soon to take Jesus out of school. Those people will be soon to remove Jesus, period, from America, which is the Bible Belt. Those people will be so mad. Come on, man.&#8221;
Kanye West went on to lament how Democrats have essentially brainwashed black Americans into voting for them with promises of food stamps and abortion.
&#8220;We’re brainwashed out here, bro. Come on, man. This is a free man talking,&#8221; said West. &#8220;Democrats had us voting for Democrats with food stamps for years. What are you talking about guns in the 80s, taking the fathers out the home, Plan B, lowering our votes, making us abort children.&#8221;
Following his attacks on abortion, Kanye West further extolled family values, when he said that families should have more children, referring to it as the &#8220;richest thing you can have.&#8221;
&#8220;[I want] seven kids. The richest thing that you can have is as many children as possible,&#8221; West said on &#8220;Carpool Karaoke.&#8221;
Prior to that, the 42-year-old rapper told Billboard in an interview that he told his staff working on the &#8220;Jesus is King&#8221; album to avoid premarital sex and to fast regularly.
&#8220;There were times where I was asking people not to have premarital sex while they were working on the album,&#8221; West said. &#8220;When people pray together and fast together, the power is increased.&#8221;
Kanye West also described himself as an instrument of God to help &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kanye-says-he-asked-jesus-is-king-employees-not-to-have-premarital-sex-hits-porn">spread the gospel</a>&#8221; of Jesus Christ.
&#8220;Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me,&#8221; said West. &#8220;I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me, I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me, but now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me, and in that I’m no longer a slave, I’m a son now, a son of God. I’m free.&#8221;

Kanye West

Kanye West: Blacks Don’t Have To Vote For Democrats

Democratic Party

A black officer who fatally shot a white woman wielding scissors and using the N-word has been cleared of wrongdoing.
On October 25, Officer Patrick Edmonds, Jr., of the Bossier City Police Department in Louisiana, responded to a disturbance call from the LaQuinta Inn.
Shannon Rupert, a 45-year-old white woman, was wielding a pair a scissors and on the phone in the hotel&#8217;s lobby, where she was staying.
“The officer gave multiple verbal commands to Rupert to put down the weapon,&#8221; a statement from the Bossier City Police Department said, according to <a href="https://www.ksla.com/2019/10/25/large-police-presence-reported-bossier-city-hotel/">KSLA News 12</a>. &#8220;Rupert then aggressively approached the officer with scissors in hand. The officer fired two rounds from his department-issued handgun, striking Rupert in the upper torso.”
Rupert was pronounced dead from the gun shot wounds at a nearby hospital.
Graphic footage from Officer Edmonds&#8217; body camera, which can be viewed below, shows Rupert holding the scissors; she can also be heard calling the officer a &#8220;n*****&#8221; and daring him to shoot her.
&#8220;You&#8217;re going to have to shoot me, n*****,&#8221; the woman tells the officer before walking over to him. Officer Edmonds promptly fatally shoots Rupert, firing off two rounds.
&#8220;What I am disputing is why they could not have used a Taser instead or the dummy bullets because those dummy bullets will knock you down,&#8221; questioned Melinda Peterson, Rupert&#8217;s cousin.
As noted by KSLA, &#8220;It is not yet clear whether Bossier City police officers are issued Tasers.&#8221;
&#8220;I knew she had been into drugs really bad,&#8221; Peterson noted of Rupert. &#8220;I tried helping her. I tried talking to her to see if maybe we could get her some help, a recourse. Getting her into rehab or anything like that. She was just out of it.&#8221;
On Friday, a review of the incident determined that Edmonds&#8217; fatal shooing of Rupert was justified.
&#8220;Based on all evidence reviewed, it is my firm opinion that no crime was committed by the officer as his actions constituted justifiable homicide,&#8221; District Attorney Schuyler Marvin said in a letter to Police Chief Shane McWilliams, <a href="https://www.ksla.com/2019/11/01/da-clears-bossier-city-officer-fatal-shooting/">KSLA</a> reported.
&#8220;The circumstances confronting such officer were such that a reasonable belief existed that he was in imminent danger of losing his life or suffering great bodily harm, and the discharge of his firearm was necessary for the prevention of a possible lethal threat,&#8221; the letter continued, noting that Rupert &#8220;appeared highly animated and erratic in the time period preceding the officer&#8217;s arrival.&#8221;
&#8220;The officer conveyed a clear, concise warning of what would happen if the deceased continued to approach while armed. In immediate response to the officer&#8217;s warning, the deceased raised both arms while holding the scissors and moved towards the officer within a distance that appeared to be more than seven or possibly five feet when the officer fired two shots, in immediate succession,&#8221; the letter detailed. &#8220;The deceased&#8217;s intent of movement toward the officer is certain as her momentum continues to carry her forward even after she is shot. The events described herein happened much more quickly than described. Investigating officers interviewed witnesses who were on location before and during the events.&#8221;
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USA, New York State, New York City, Crime scene barrier tape

Video: Black Officer Fatally Shoots White Woman Wielding Scissors, Using N-Word

Law Enforcement

The warrant for the arrest of Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean for the killing of Atatiana Jefferson, 28, in her home provides details from the account of her 8-year-old nephew, who witnessed the fatal shooting. According to the boy, his aunt was holding a handgun and pointed it at the window after she heard noises outside from the officers inspecting her home in response to a call from a concerned neighbor early Saturday morning.
Police have underscored that it &#8220;makes sense&#8221; that Jefferson would use her gun if she felt she was being threatened by someone in her own home. The lawyer representing the Jefferson family has also noted that she legally owned the gun.
As reported by <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/15/atatiana-jefferson-pointed-gun-out-window-before-fort-worth-officer-killed-her-nephew-told-authorities/?fbclid=IwAR1Lx73SOk32HweII9ruwrS8na_hP0iohR7Ilh/">The Dallas Morning News</a>, the boy told authorities that he was in the room with Jefferson when she was shot and killed by Dean, one of the two officers who responded to a neighbor&#8217;s call expressing concern about Jefferson&#8217;s front door being left open and lights on so late at night.
The boy was playing video games with his aunt when she heard noises outside her home, he said. She took a handgun from her purse and pointed it &#8220;toward the window,&#8221; the boy told forensic investigators. That&#8217;s when Dean yelled, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” then fired a single shot, killing Jefferson.
&#8220;Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said at a news conference Tuesday that it &#8216;makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or there was someone in the backyard,'&#8221; Dallas Morning News reports.
“It’s only appropriate that Ms. Jefferson would have a gun,” said Lee Merritt, the lawyer representing Jefferson&#8217;s family, noting that she had a license to carry the legally owned firearm. &#8220;When you think there’s someone prowling around in the back at 2 in the morning, you may need to arm yourself. That person could have a gun.”
Merritt stressed that Jefferson legally owned the firearm and was licensed to carry it.
After turning in his badge earlier in the day, Dean was arrested on Monday on murder charges. Shortly afterward, the Fort Worth Police Department issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/update-fort-worth-officer-arrested-after-shooting-woman-in-her-house">press release</a> providing some details about the case.
“At approximately 6 p.m., Aaron Dean was arrested for the murder of Ms. Jefferson and he has since been booked in Tarrant County Jail,” the release reads. “Our department is working closely with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office. Our Major Case and Internal Affairs Units are continuing to work around the clock to ensure that no stone is left unturned and justice for Ms. Jefferson’s family and community are served.”
The shooting has sparked outrage from the community, some of the leaders of which suggesting that it may have been racially motivated since the officer is white and Jefferson is black.
Amid the outcry over the shooting, the department released <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/body-cam-video-fort-worth-officer-shoots-woman-in-her-home-after-non-emergency-call">body cam footage</a> on Saturday showing the officers scanning the perimeter of her home using flashlights. After checking a door and some windows, Dean shouts, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” He then fired through a bedroom window. The footage ends with two still shots of a handgun in the bedroom, presumably the one Jefferson was holding in self-defense when she was shot.
The video footage does not show the officer announcing that he is with law enforcement, and the neighbor who called the non-emergency police number says the officers parked around the block so their vehicle likely was not visible from inside the house.
Video below (warning: graphic content):
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The badge of a Fort Worth Police officer

UPDATE: Woman Shot By Fort Worth Police Officer In Her Home Pointed Gun At Window

Guns

Second Amendment

Texas

After turning in his badge earlier in the day, the officer who shot and killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her home early Saturday morning after responding to a neighbor&#8217;s call to a non-emergency police number has been arrested. The shooting, which involved a white officer and a black victim, has sparked racially charged outrage in the community, and the department&#8217;s release of body cam footage has only inspired more criticism.
In an update to the case posted online Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department announced that officer Aaron Dean, 34, has been arrested and charged with murder. &#8220;Aaron Dean was arrested by Fort Worth Police on Oct. 14. Dean has been charged with murder of Atatiana Jefferson,&#8221; the department announced. &#8220;Dean is in the Tarrant County Jail.&#8221;
In a press release issued soon after the announcement, the department expressed its &#8220;deepest condolences to the family of Ms. Jefferson&#8221; and provided more details about Dean&#8217;s arrest.
&#8220;At approximately 6 p.m., Aaron Dean was arrested for the murder of Ms. Jefferson and he has since been booked in Tarrant County Jail,&#8221; the statement reads. &#8220;Our department is working closely with the Tarrant County District Attorney&#8217;s office. Our Major Case and Internal Affairs Units are continuing to work around the clock to ensure that no stone is left unturned and justice for Ms. Jefferson&#8217;s family and community are served.&#8221;
&#8220;To the citizens and residents of our city: We feel and understand your anger and disappointment and we stand by you as we work together to make Fort Worth a better place for all of us,&#8221; the release states.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UPDATE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UPDATE</a> 
Aaron Dean was arrested by Fort Worth Police 
on Oct. 14. Dean has been charged with 
murder of Atatiana Jefferson. Dean is in 
the Tarrant County Jail.
Interim <a href="https://twitter.com/chiefkraus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@chiefkraus</a> will schedule a News 
Conference for Oct. 15 at Bob Bolen. That time has not been determined yet. <a href="https://t.co/eRZfMWtgM4">pic.twitter.com/eRZfMWtgM4</a>
— Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) <a href="https://twitter.com/fortworthpd/status/1183899320711557120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UPDATE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UPDATE</a> on the arrest of Aaron Dean: <a href="https://t.co/owb3IiozOl">pic.twitter.com/owb3IiozOl</a>
— Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) <a href="https://twitter.com/fortworthpd/status/1183924831785553921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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After being booked Monday evening, Dean was released on a $200,000 bond at 9:15 p.m., according to a Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/14/fort-worth-officer-who-fatally-shot-atatiana-jefferson-has-resigned-chief-says/">The Dallas Morning News</a> reports.
The department held a press conference Tuesday morning addressing the case:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
10/15/19 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NewsConference?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NewsConference</a> <a href="https://t.co/sJeTdn6HuB">https://t.co/sJeTdn6HuB</a>
— Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) <a href="https://twitter.com/fortworthpd/status/1184121791544995842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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As reported by the <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html">Fort Worth Star-Telegram</a>, Fort Worth police responded Saturday to a 2:25 a.m. call on a non-emergency police number from concerned neighbor, James Smith, after he noticed that the front door of Jefferson’s home was left open and the lights were on — something he told the press he found &#8220;unusual.&#8221; Jefferson, said Smith, was home with her 8-year-old nephew, and he was worried about her wellbeing.
Police arrived, reportedly parking their vehicle around the corner so it was likely not visible to anyone in the house, according to Smith. Two officers, including Dean, began to check the perimeter of the home using flashlights. As body cam footage released by the department Saturday shows, while checking one side of the house, Dean yells, &#8220;Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” then fires a shot through a bedroom window (video below).
The footage also shows two still shots of a handgun police say was found in the bedroom, though it is unclear if Jefferson was holding it when she was shot.
“Perceiving a threat, the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” Fort Worth police said in a statement reported by the Star-Telegram. “Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.”
But the lawyer representing Jefferson&#8217;s family says she was simply playing video games with her nephew and went to the window to see who was outside, suspecting &#8220;prowlers.&#8221; The video footage does not show the officer announcing that he is with law enforcement.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/update-woman-shot-by-fort-worth-police-officer-in-her-home-pointed-gun-at-window-warrant-says">UPDATE: Woman Shot By Fort Worth Police Officer In Her Home Pointed Gun At Window</a>
Video released by Fort Worth police below:
<iframe title="RAW: Fort Worth police release body cam after officers shoot woman in her home" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xpcV0ODTy0Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Fort Worth Police

Fort Worth Officer Arrested For Shooting Woman In Her House

Amid mourning and outrage from community members, the Fort Worth Police Department released body camera footage on Sunday of a tragic officer-involved shooting in which a white officer shot and killed a black woman in her own home after a reported &#8220;non-emergency&#8221; call from a neighbor.
At 2:25 a.m. on Saturday, police responded to a call on a non-emergency police number from a concerned neighbor after he noticed that the front door of his neighbor Atatiana Jefferson&#8217;s (28) home was left open and the lights were on. The neighbor, James Smith, knew that Jefferson was home with her 8-year-old nephew and found it &#8220;unusual&#8221; that her front door would be left open and the lights on at such an hour, the <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236067328.html">Fort Worth Star-Telegram</a> reports.
The police-released video (below) shows two officers outside Jefferson&#8217;s home scanning the perimeter using flashlights, checking a door and windows of the home, when one officer shouts, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” The officer then fires a single shot through a bedroom window.
The footage ends with two still shots of what the department says is a handgun found in the bedroom in which Jefferson was shot. Whether or not Jefferson was ever holding that gun is unclear.
The video also does not show the officer announcing that he is with the police department, and police have not specified whether he did so. According to Smith, the police parked around the corner; thus, Jefferson may not have been able to see their police vehicle.
Video below (warning: graphic content):
<iframe title="RAW: Fort Worth police release body cam after officers shoot woman in her home" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xpcV0ODTy0Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said Jefferson died of the gunshot wound in her bedroom.
&#8220;Perceiving a threat, the officer drew his duty weapon and fired one shot striking the person inside the residence,” Fort Worth police said in a statement reported by the Star-Telegram. &#8220;Officers entered the residence locating the individual and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.&#8221;
According to attorney S. Lee Merritt, who is representing Jefferson&#8217;s relatives, Jefferson was inside the home playing video games with her nephew.  Believing that the police were prowlers, she went to the window to try to see who was outside and was shot, Merritt said.
Though the released footage features images of a handgun found in the home, police have not said if she was holding the gun when the officer fired.
Asked by the Star-Telegram if Jefferson was holding the weapon and what exactly the officer perceived as a threat, the department declined to answer, a department spokesman telling the outlet in an email, &#8220;Being the preliminary stages of this critical investigation we have provided all the information we have available to release at this time.&#8221;
Smith, who stressed that he made the non-emergency call only out of concern for Jefferson&#8217;s well-being, expressed regret at his decision to involve authorities. &#8220;I&#8217;m shaken. I&#8217;m mad. I&#8217;m upset,&#8221; he told reporters. &#8220;And I feel it&#8217;s partly my fault. If I had never dialed the police department, she&#8217;d still be alive.&#8221;
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In a Facebook post Saturday, Merritt preemptively defended Jefferson against what he described as law enforcement&#8217;s &#8220;pattern of villainizing&#8221; suspects.  Jefferson, he noted, was a pre-med graduate of Xavier University who was &#8220;very close to her family&#8221; and was just trying to have fun playing video games with her nephew.
Several black community leaders and pastors held a meeting on Saturday in which they decried the tragic killing of Jefferson. One of the pastors who attended the event, Greater Saint Stephen&#8217;s Rev. Michael Bell, declared the shooting a &#8220;murder&#8221; and suggested it was racially motivated.
&#8220;The Fort Worth police murdered this woman,&#8221; Bell said in comments reported by the <a href="https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article236078063.html#storylink=cpy">Star-Telegram</a>. &#8220;They murdered this woman in her own house. And now, African Americans, we have no recourse. If we call the police, they will come and kill us. And we know that.&#8221;
Police say the officer who fired on Jefferson is on administrative leave pending the investigation.
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H/T <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/taylormillard/2019/10/13/fort-worth-police-kill-woman-inside-home/">Taylor Millord</a>
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Police Tape

BODY CAM VIDEO: Fort Worth Officer Shoots Woman In Her Home After &#8216;Non-Emergency&#8217; Call

During my student days at a UCLA economics department faculty/graduate student coffee hour in the 1960s, I was chatting with Professor Armen Alchian, probably the greatest microeconomic theory economist of the 20th century. I was trying to impress Alchian with my knowledge of statistical type I and type II errors. I explained that unlike my wife, who assumed that everyone was her friend until they prove differently, my assumption was everyone was an enemy until they proved otherwise. The result: My wife&#8217;s vision maximized the number of her friends but maximized her chances of betrayal. My vision minimized my chances of betrayal at a cost of minimizing the number of my friends.
Alchian, donning a mischievous smile asked, &#8220;Williams, have you considered a third alternative, namely, that people don&#8217;t give a damn about you one way or another?&#8221; Initially, I felt a bit insulted, and our conversation didn&#8217;t go much further, but that was typical of Alchian — saying something profound, perhaps controversial, without much comment and letting you think it out.
Years later, I gave Alchian&#8217;s third alternative considerable thought and concluded that he was right. The most reliable assumption, in terms of the conduct of one&#8217;s life, is to assume that people don&#8217;t care about you one way or another. It&#8217;s an error to generalize that people are friends or enemies, or that people are out to either help you or hurt you. To put it more crudely, as Alchian did, people don&#8217;t give a damn about you one way or another.
Let&#8217;s apply this argument to issues of race. Listening to some people, one might think that white people are engaged in an ongoing secret conspiracy to undermine the achievement and well-being of black people. Their evidence is low black academic achievement and high rates of black poverty, unemployment and incarceration. For some, racism is the root cause of most black problems including the unprecedentedly high black illegitimacy rate and family breakdown.
Are white people obsessed with and engaged in a conspiracy against black people? Here&#8217;s an experiment. Walk up to the average white person and ask, &#8220;How many minutes today have you been thinking about black people?&#8221; If the person isn&#8217;t a Klansman or a gushing do-gooder liberal, his answer would probably be zero minutes. If you asked him whether he&#8217;s a part of a conspiracy to undermine the achievement and well-being of black people, he&#8217;d probably look at you as if you were crazy. By the same token, if a person asked me: &#8220;Williams, how many minutes today have you been thinking about white people?&#8221; My answer would probably be, &#8220;Not even a nanosecond.&#8221; Because people don&#8217;t care about you one way or another doesn&#8217;t mean they wish you good will, ill will or no will. They just don&#8217;t give a damn.
What are the implications of the people-don&#8217;t-care vision of how the world works? A major implication is that one&#8217;s destiny, for the most part, is in one&#8217;s hands. How you make it in this world depends more on what you do as opposed to whether people like or dislike you. Black politicians, civil rights leaders and white liberals have peddled victimhood to black people, teaching them that racism is pervasive and no amount of individual effort can overcome racist barriers. Peddling victimhood is not new. Booker T. Washington said: &#8220;There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.&#8221; In an 1865 speech to the Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, abolitionist Frederick Douglass said that people ask: &#8220;&#8216;What shall we do with the Negro?&#8217; I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us!&#8221; Or as Patrick Moynihan urged a century later in a 1970 memo to President Richard Nixon, &#8220;The time may have come when the issue of race could benefit from a period of &#8216;benign neglect.'&#8221;
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com .

Question mark sculpture.

WILLIAMS: Who Cares About You?

A black elementary school teacher who fought against the St. Paul School District in Minnesota for their practice of letting minority students get away with bad behavior won $525,000 in a settlement Tuesday night.
Aaron Benner filed a federal lawsuit in 2015, claiming that the school district basically made him quit his job because they investigated him four times in the 2014-15 school year despite the fact he had never been disciplined before. Benner had already been teaching for 19 years by 2014, when he and four other teachers told a board meeting that the district was not reprimanding students for their bad behavior. The <a href="http://www.startribune.com/former-st-paul-teacher-settles-retaliation-suit-against-district-for-525-000/560627812/?refresh=true">Minneapolis Star-Tribune</a> reported, “Benner, who is black, accused the district of failing black students by not holding them accountable for disruptive behavior. The district was being led then by Valeria Silva, who sought to reduce racial disparities in student discipline.”
After the settlement, Benner stated, “I thank God for all the blessings in my life. I turned 50 this year, got married in July and now (there is) this settlement.” The district did not admit they had done anything wrong, but wanted to avoid the costs of a lawsuit, asserting, “This agreement enables the district to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of protracted legal proceedings regarding its previous policies, practices and expectations.”
Benner won a recent court ruling allowing him to seek punitive damages when the case went to trial.
In 2015, Benner <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoooQRdHEYI">appeared on Fox News’ “The O-Reilly Factor</a>,” where host Bill O’Reilly stated:
<blockquote>For the past five years the St. Paul, Minnesota school district has spent nearly $3 million on “white privilege” training done by a far-left outfit called the Pacific Educational Group. That training tells teachers to overlook transgressions by minority students; to treat them differently than white students.</blockquote>
O’Reilly turned to Benner, saying, “You’re teaching at an elementary school and you’re seeing behavior, not in your class, but in the cafeteria, in the school grounds, that’s getting worse, correct?”
Benner: “That is correct.”
Benner continued:
<blockquote>You would see that same student who came in your class and disrupted you still in the school. And that’s mind-boggling. You’re like, “Where are the consequences? What’s going on around here?” That was my concern … In December of 2011, when I was working at another school, the behaviors were so out of control that I addressed the St. Paul school board by myself and I told them, “It breaks my heart to see children who look like me behave so poorly in our schools and nothing’s being done … I had an altercation with a student where the student actually punched me; I restrained the student, brought the student into the principal; I didn’t want the student to be incarcerated; however, I wanted some consequences. That student was returned back to my class, Mr. O’Reilly, within ten minutes. That’s when I knew there was a problem in St. Paul public schools. I knew that there must have been some sort of directive to keep these kids in school, in the classroom, no matter what.</blockquote>

I wil not talk in class

Black Teacher Who Opposed Minority Students Getting Away With Bad Behavior Wins Huge Settlement From School District

Minnesota

The U.S. Department of Justice has recently sued the Baltimore County government alleging that its written test for police officer recruits was unfairly biased against black applicants. It turns out that black applicants failed the written test at a rate much greater than white applicants. That results in fewer blacks being trained and hired as police officers. John A. Olszewski Jr., Baltimore County Executive said: &#8220;A law enforcement agency should look like the community it serves. As I have said repeatedly since taking office, I am committed to increasing diversity in the county&#8217;s Police Department.&#8221;
Baltimore City uses Municipal Police Selection Test. You can examine some sample questions at its website. I&#8217;d like to know which of the questions are either unrelated to police work or racist. Many jurisdictions use The National Police Officer Selection Test. You can examine some of the sample questions at its website. Again, I&#8217;d like to know which of the questions are unrelated to police work or are racially biased questions. In addition, it has been found that MPST and POST are successful predictors of law enforcement training success and job performance.
Black performance on police exams is simply the tip of the iceberg of a truly tragic cruelty. That cruelty stands front and center when one examines the education that most blacks in Baltimore receive. Several years ago, Project Baltimore began an investigation of Baltimore&#8217;s school system. What they found was an utter disgrace. In 19 of Baltimore&#8217;s high schools, out of 3,804 students, only 14 of them, or less than 1%, were proficient in math. In 13 of Baltimore&#8217;s 39 high schools, not a single student scored proficient in math. In five Baltimore City high schools, not a single student scored proficient in math or reading. Despite these academic deficiencies, about 70% of the students graduate and are conferred a high school diploma. A high school diploma attests that the holder can read, write and compute at a 12th-grade level. Obviously, the diplomas conferred on students who have not mastered reading, writing and computing are fraudulent.
When a person who cannot read, write and compute very well takes a written employment exam, including that to become a police officer, he is going to encounter difficulties. His difficulties are not caused by any racially discriminatory aspect of the test. His difficulties are a result of not having acquired what he should have acquired by the time he finished high school. But that is not how such a person sees it. He sees that he has a high school diploma just as a white applicant has a high school diploma. To him, any difference in treatment and outcomes must be the result of racial discrimination. Thus, the U.S. Department of Justice sued, claiming that the written test for police officer recruits was unfairly biased against black applicants.
The conclusion that Baltimore County&#8217;s written test for police officer recruits was unfairly biased against black applicants is tragic. It allows Baltimore public schools to continue to produce fraudulent education. You say: &#8220;Hold it, Williams! You can&#8217;t blame everything on schools.&#8221; You&#8217;re right. One cannot blame schools and teachers for students who are hostile to the education process. One cannot blame schools and teachers for a rotten home environment or derelict parents. But there is one thing entirely within the control of educators. That&#8217;s their power to issue diplomas. When they confer high school diplomas on youngsters who cannot read, write and compute at or near a 12th-grade level, they are engaging in fraudulent conduct.
Dr. Thomas Sowell&#8217;s research in &#8220;Education: Assumptions Versus History&#8221; documents academic excellence at Baltimore&#8217;s Frederick Douglass High School and others. This academic excellence occurred during an era when blacks were much poorer and faced gross racial discrimination. It&#8217;s worthwhile reading for black people to learn the capabilities of other blacks facing so many challenging circumstances. I&#8217;m wondering when the black community will demand an end to an educational environment that condemns so many youngsters to mediocrity.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

WILLIAMS: Racist Exam Questions?

Baltimore

Department of Justice

Police

I am told that the revealed blackface photos of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are “<a href="https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/18/insulting-shocking-troubling-party-leaders-react-to-photo-of-trudeau-in-brownface/">shocking</a>.” I can think of several different words to describe them — “hilarious” certainly being one — but I would not personally call them shocking. Anyone who has been paying attention cannot be shocked that the wokest white boy this side of the Atlantic has this sort of thing in his past. And when you consider his widely recognized penchant for dressing in <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4037948/trudeau-family-criticized-for-indian-outfits/">ethnic attire</a> — as Trudeau himself said last night, he has “more enthusiasm for costumes than is sometimes appropriate” — it would, if anything, be shocking if the man had never once donned blackface.
But is it racist? So far, we know that Trudeau adjusted his complexion for an Aladdin costume (in a remake that was at least better than Will Smith’s, we have to admit), and to perform a Jamaican song at a talent show, and in at least one other as-yet-unclear context. Objectively, none of this is necessarily racist. Stupid? Yes. Insensitive? Perhaps. But it doesn’t compare to the explicitly dehumanizing blackface worn by minstrel show performers in the early 20th century. This kind of blackface is a joke. Maybe even a tribute. It is not automatically racist, and, all things being equal, it doesn’t matter what dumb costume a dumb guy wore 20 years ago.
And yet, all things are not equal. This blackface stuff is irrelevant and un-racist only by the objective standard of reasonable, sincere people. That is to say, it is relevant and certainly racist by the absurd standard of unreasonable and insincere people like Justin Trudeau. Leftists deserve to be held to their own standards for a change. What makes Trudeau’s blackface scandalous is not that it is bigoted, but that it directly contradicts his carefully curated brand as a racially enlightened progressive. This is a hypocrisy scandal, not a racism scandal. And on that level, he ought to be raked over the coals.
Consider the leftist argument against men like Mark Sanford and Larry Craig. They say that they — the leftists — don’t much care if a man has an affair in his personal life, or solicits gay sex in a restroom, but it’s an outrage in the case of conservative Republicans because of their “family values” brand. These Republicans are the very people — so the argument goes — who trumpet their Christian virtue and attack others for falling short in that regard. It is the height of hypocrisy for them, of all people, to be doing the toe-tap in a bathroom stall. I don’t necessarily disagree with this logic. And it’s this exact logic that should be applied to leftist public figures who have racially insensitive skeletons in their closets. In the name of consistency, and for the sake of punishing hypocrisy, they ought to be treated exactly as they would treat anyone else who has done the same thing.
And how, precisely, does the Left treat such people? Well, consider what happened to Megyn Kelly when she merely talked about blackface on her NBC show. All she did was argue that sometimes blackface isn’t racist — sometimes it’s meant as a tribute, not an insult — and for that, she was pilloried, attacked, and eventually fired. The Left demanded Kelly’s head on a platter for defending exactly the thing that Trudeau actually did. So how should it treat Trudeau? Should we not insist on consistency? If the Left wants to give Trudeau a pass, like they gave Virginia Governor Ralph Northam a pass, then they must be similarly generous with anyone and everyone who has done or said racially inappropriate things in the past. This seems like a perfectly fair demand. One standard — not two.

Justin Trudeau

WALSH: The Left Tore Megyn Kelly Apart Just For Talking About Blackface. Justin Trudeau Deserves The Same Treatment.

Megan Crowley

Political Correctness

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau&#8217;s blackface scandal went from bad to worse Thursday morning when what appears to be a third instance of him wearing dark make-up to look like a person of color emerged — after the liberal leader suggested he had worn blackface only twice.
&#8220;Global News has obtained video showing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in blackface, the third instance of racist dress to come to light in 12 hours,&#8221; the outlet reported early Thursday morning.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: A video — obtained exclusively by Global News — shows a third instance of Justin Trudeau in what appears to be racist makeup.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cdnpoli?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cdnpoli</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elxn43?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#elxn43</a> <a href="https://t.co/1WNWm9QPat">https://t.co/1WNWm9QPat</a>
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/globalnews/status/1174656001582206976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The video was shot in the early 1990s, however, it’s not clear where it takes place,&#8221; Global News reports. &#8220;The video, obtained exclusively by Global News, shows Trudeau covered in what appears to be dark makeup and raising his hands in the air while laughing, sticking his tongue out and making faces. He’s wearing a white T-shirt, and his jeans are ripped at the knees. It appears as though his arms and legs are covered in makeup as well. It does not appear the video was shot at the same time and place of the other photos of Trudeau in racist make-up that have emerged in the past 24 hours.&#8221;
Global News notes that it had actually obtained the video earlier this week, &#8220;but had been attempting to verify it before publishing.&#8221; Early Thursday, a member of the Liberal campaign confirmed that it was indeed Trudeau.
&#8220;The source did not shoot the video but Global News subsequently reached the person believed to have shot the video,&#8221; the outlet notes. &#8220;That person would not confirm or deny that it was Trudeau in the video or the time and place of the video.&#8221;
The first image showing Trudeau in blackface was first reported by Time magazine. Trudeau donned dark makeup for a 2001 &#8220;Arabian Nights&#8221;-themed gala held at West Point Grey Academy, a private school where he taught.
A second blackface instance took place during a high school talent show, where Trudeau dressed up to perform the song &#8220;Day-O.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">NEW: Justin Trudeau Wore Brownface at 2001 ‘Arabian Nights’ Party While He Taught at a Private School<a href="https://twitter.com/melissalchan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@melissalchan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/anna_P_k?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@anna_P_k</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/maddiecarlisle2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@maddiecarlisle2</a> report
Full Story: <a href="https://t.co/MmUGh8QKdL">https://t.co/MmUGh8QKdL</a> <a href="https://t.co/FlWwwD9uk5">pic.twitter.com/FlWwwD9uk5</a>
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1174455955737776129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Justin Trudeau in blackface. <a href="https://t.co/5WigbaF49U">pic.twitter.com/5WigbaF49U</a>
— Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephen_taylor/status/1174513512653164546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The emergence of what appears to be a third instance of Trudeau in &#8220;brownface&#8221; followed him admitting to doing so on two occasions, as noted by <a href="https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1174655210570096640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1174655210570096640&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fgregp-3534%2F2019%2F09%2F19%2Fhes-still-lying-3rd-instance-of-justin-trudeau-in-blackface-surfaces-a%2F">Rebel News</a> and <a href="https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/09/19/hes-still-lying-3rd-instance-of-justin-trudeau-in-blackface-surfaces-a/">Twitchy</a>.
Trudeau addressed the growing controversy at a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51959/blackface-photo-justin-trudeau-surfaces-trudeau-ryan-saavedra">press conference</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;I stand here before Canadians as I will throughout this campaign and talk about the work we have to do to make a better country together,&#8221; said the embattled prime minister. &#8220;And I am going to continue to stay focused on that and continue to work to fight intolerance and discrimination, even though obviously I made a mistake in the past.&#8221;
&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t have done it. I should have known better, but I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; Trudeau added. &#8220;And I&#8217;m really sorry.&#8221;
But Trudeau also admitted during the press conference that he darkened his skin on another occasion. &#8220;When I was in high school I dressed up at a talent show and sang &#8216;Day-O&#8217; with makeup on,&#8221; he said.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51959/blackface-photo-justin-trudeau-surfaces-trudeau-ryan-saavedra">The Daily Wire</a> highlighted, Green Party leader Elizabeth May unloaded on Trudeau over the issue. &#8220;I am deeply shocked by the racism shown in the photograph of Justin Trudeau,&#8221; she tweeted Wednesday. &#8220;He must apologize for the harm done and commit to learning and appreciating the requirement to model social justice leadership at all levels of government. In this matter he has failed.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49559/democrats-who-called-northam-resign-now-accepting-ryan-saavedra">Democrats Who Called On Northam To Resign Now Accepting Donations From Him</a>

THIRD Instance Of Justin Trudeau In Blackface Emerges After He Said He Did It Twice

Canada

Ralph Northam

For both the &#8220;Woke&#8221; and sleeping viewers out there, comedian-turned-full-time political activist Chelsea Handler hits all the wrong notes in her Netflix documentary exploring her so-called &#8220;white privilege.&#8221;
The newly-released documentary, wherein Handler explores how her white privilege has helped her career and its effects on American culture, has racked up some viewer feedback on review site <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hello_privilege_its_me_chelsea/reviews?type=user">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, and let&#8217;s just say Handler&#8217;s supposed white privilege provided little help in landing her high praise.
As of Wednesday evening, &#8220;Hello Privilege. It&#8217;s Me, Chelsea,&#8221; has a stunning 16% audience approval rating.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Ouch. <a href="https://t.co/ke8kSlqGx1">pic.twitter.com/ke8kSlqGx1</a>
— Amanda Prestigiacomo (@AmandaPresto) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmandaPresto/status/1174433128208830469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The reviewers were wildly unsatisfied; either Handler was not sensitive enough to the intersectional Woke experience, or her desperate apologetics were too much to bear.
One seemingly left-leaning reviewer, for example, blasted the documentary as &#8220;full of fake outreach and perpetuation of black stereotypes with no real insight from the main character.&#8221;
&#8220;The most enlightening parts of this documentary are the conversations held with actual activist,&#8221; the female reviewer <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hello_privilege_its_me_chelsea/reviews?type=user">posted</a>. &#8220;There is no nuance or heart in this documentary.&#8221;
&#8220;[Handler] even had the nerve to make a sexual joke about (comedian and actress) Tiffany Hadish when Tiffany was being DEAD serious in her example of white privilege,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;Even when Tiffany was nearly brought to tears with a fact that had personally brought ME to tears, Handler reacted in the most unattached way ever.&#8221;
The reviewer noted that Handler &#8220;completely tried the &#8216;we didn&#8217;t have a lot of money&#8217; bit which she later contradicts by talking about going back to her nice neighborhood.&#8221;
&#8220;This &#8216;documentary&#8217; is full of fake outreach and perpetuation of black stereotypes with no real insight from the main character. I. Can. Not,&#8221; she closed.
Another audience review complained that Handler interviewed the wrong people.
&#8220;Chelsea was good and put effort into trying to understand what is going on, but I don&#8217;t think she interviewed the best people to talk about this subject because I ended up taking nothing away from this documentary,&#8221; the person said.
A female viewer who seemingly wanted to like the doc gave Handler two out of five stars and ironically criticized the work for exposing the comedian&#8217;s white privilege.
&#8220;[I don&#8217;t know]. I think creating a documentary and traveling the world seeking answers about white privilege is the epitome of white privelege [sic],&#8221; she posted. &#8220;I&#8217;m a fan of Handler and especially her last book, but this wasn&#8217;t her best use of time in my opinion. Was just a little cringey to watch to be honest.&#8221;
&#8220;Seriously cringy and racist all along,&#8221; a male reviewer bluntly wrote.
Another said, &#8220;So boring I cried.&#8221;
&#8220;Only giving it a half star because she made me chuckle once or twice,&#8221; a male reviewer posted. &#8220;Otherwise [it&#8217;s] a cringe fest of self deprecation/loathing.&#8221;
&#8220;A long, boring, scolding given by an unfunny white comedian pretending to depth. If you are a masochist, or a difficult person to be around, you will probably really enjoy it,&#8221; a post blasted. &#8220;Anyone with the bodily resources to create a measurable EEG readout should give it a pass.&#8221;

Chelsea Handler

Viewers Savage Chelsea Handler’s ‘White Privilege’ Netflix Doc

Netflix

On Monday, comedians Bill Burr and Jim Jefferies reacted to NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; firing newly-named cast member Shane Gillis for past offensive jokes. The duo ripped into so-called &#8220;cancel culture&#8221; and questioned if &#8220;SNL&#8221; was going to retract past skits that would be deemed offensive in 2019.
&#8220;This is just &#8216;cancel culture,&#8217; the guy shouldn’t have been fired,&#8221; Jefferies told &#8220;Lights Out with David Spade&#8221; host David Spade. Spade refrained from commenting because he&#8217;s an alum of the sketch show.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just a couple things back in history. Are we gonna go back in everyone&#8217;s history?&#8221; continued Jefferies. &#8220;Are we gonna get rid of every sketch that &#8216;SNL&#8217; has done that involves race? I remember (former &#8216;SNL&#8217; cast member) John Belushi dressing as an Asian man with a Samurai sword; that was the whole sketch.&#8221;
Burr weighed in, asking why folks boil your life down to a few moments, only &#8220;looking for the bad stuff.&#8221;
&#8220;Do they go back and also try to look at good things that the person might have done, or are they just looking for the bad stuff?&#8221; he asked. Burr then imitated a random journalist &#8220;scrolling through&#8221; a person&#8217;s past deeds. &#8220;&#8216;Help cat out of a tree&#8217; — that&#8217;s not it,&#8221; Burr mocked. &#8216;Help grandmother walk across the street&#8217; — that&#8217;s not it. &#8216;Said something on a podcast&#8217; — there it is!&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not running for office! When is this gonna f***ing end? F***ing millennials, you&#8217;re a buncha rats! All of ya! None of them care, all they wanna do is get people in trouble,&#8221; the comedian ripped.
Spade waded into the shallow waters of the controversy, noting that when people used to get hired by &#8220;SNL,&#8221; their first move &#8220;wasn&#8217;t to rifle through your past to make sure you get fired right away.&#8221;
&#8220;If you go back 15 years into somebody&#8217;s life, someone should then go back 15 years into your life,&#8221; Burr chimed in again. &#8220;&#8216;Hey we went back and found out he was a human being, he f***ed up.&#8217; I don’t understand.&#8221;
As previously covered by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51852/canceled-shane-gillis-fired-snl-over-past-amanda-prestigiacomo">The Daily Wire</a>, journalists dug up commentary made by Gillis on a podcast called &#8220;Matthew and Shane&#8217;s Secret Podcast&#8221; — his project with fellow comedian Matt McCusker, wherein Gillis used a stereotypical mocking Asian voice and made fun of Democratic candidate and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, referring to him as a &#8220;Jew chink.&#8221; In another episode, according to The New York Times, Gillis &#8220;used homophobic slurs to describe Judd Apatow, the comedy filmmaker and producer, and the comedian Chris Gethard.&#8221;
Gillis was canned from &#8220;SNL&#8221; on Monday.
Burr and Jefferies aren&#8217;t the only comedians to speak out against the firing. Former &#8220;SNL&#8221; cast member Norm Macdonald captioned a report on Gillis&#8217; firing: &#8220;Of course you know, this means WAR.&#8221; He appealed directly to Gillis in another social media post. &#8220;Hey, Shane, I&#8217;m so sorry. I can&#8217;t even imagine how you must feel. The work it takes to get that show and to have it snatched away by some guy who does &#8216;Spoken Bird&#8217; poetry,&#8221; he wrote, referring to Seth Simons, the journalist who posted past offensive jokes from Gillis that sparked the outrage campaign. &#8220;Unacceptable. Please DM me, pal, when you have a moment. I&#8217;m so sorry.&#8221;
WATCH:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/billburr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@billburr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jimjefferies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jimjefferies</a> weigh in on SNL firing Shane Gillis. <a href="https://t.co/vdZbZf1SFC">pic.twitter.com/vdZbZf1SFC</a>
— Lights Out with David Spade (@LightsOut) <a href="https://twitter.com/LightsOut/status/1173802027412930560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51858/former-snl-star-norm-macdonald-reacts-firing-shane-amanda-prestigiacomo">Former ‘SNL’ Star Norm MacDonald Reacts To Firing Of Shane Gillis: ‘This Means WAR’</a>

Bill Burr

WATCH: Bill Burr, Jim Jefferies React To ‘SNL’ Firing Shane Gillis, Blast ‘Cancel Culture’

Norm MacDonald

Saturday Night Live

On Monday, NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; caved to pressure and fired comedian Shane Gillis over past offensive jokes.
&#8220;After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining &#8216;SNL,'&#8221; a statement from a &#8220;SNL&#8221; spokesperson read, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/16/entertainment/snl-shane-gillis/index.html">CNN</a>. &#8220;We want &#8216;SNL&#8217; to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as comedian and his impressive audition for &#8216;SNL.'&#8221;
The production team was &#8220;not aware of [Gillis&#8217;] prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days,&#8221; the spokesperson said.
As previously covered by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51782/new-snl-hire-cancel-culture-crosshairs-over-past-amanda-prestigiacomo">The Daily Wire</a>, journalists dug up commentary made by Gillis on a podcast called &#8220;<a href="https://mattandshanessecret.libsyn.com/">Matthew and Shane&#8217;s Secret Podcast</a>&#8221; — his project with fellow comedian Matt McCusker, wherein Gillis used a stereotypical mocking Asian voice and made fun of Democratic candidate and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, referring to him as a &#8220;Jew chink.&#8221; In another episode, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/arts/shane-gillis-snl-racial-slur.html">The New York Times</a>, Gillis &#8220;used homophobic slurs to describe Judd Apatow, the comedy filmmaker and producer, and the comedian Chris Gethard.&#8221;
&#8220;The language he used is offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard,&#8221; the &#8220;SNL&#8221; statement said.
Gillis posted a response to the news of his ouster on social media, noting that it &#8220;feels ridiculous for comedians to be making serious public statements.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m a comedian who was funny enough to get &#8216;SNL.&#8217; That can&#8217;t be taken away,&#8221; wrote Gillis. &#8220;Of course I wanted an opportunity to prove myself at &#8216;SNL,&#8217; but I understand it would be too much of a distraction. I respect the decision they made. I’m honestly grateful for the opportunity.&#8221;
&#8220;I was always a [&#8216;Mad TV&#8217;] guy anyway,&#8221; Gillis joked.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/vN0htGMBVg">pic.twitter.com/vN0htGMBVg</a>
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shanemgillis/status/1173690932832505856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Earlier in the week, Gillis addressed the controversy at New York City comedy club &#8220;The Stand,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/arts/shane-gillis-snl-racial-slur.html">Times</a>. The comic told the crowd he was &#8220;playing a character on the podcast and that he did not himself think of Chinese people that way,&#8221; the outlet reported. In a statement posted the following day, the stand-up said his edgy comedy sometimes &#8220;misses the mark&#8221; and offered an apology to &#8220;anyone who&#8217;s actually offended.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss,&#8221; Gillis said on Friday. &#8220;If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you&#8217;re going to find a lot of bad misses. I&#8217;m happy to apologize to anyone who&#8217;s actually offended by anything I&#8217;ve said.&#8221;
&#8220;My intention is never to hurt anyone, but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks,&#8221; he added.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/fw7QJHLFdi">pic.twitter.com/fw7QJHLFdi</a>
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shanemgillis/status/1172340437752807424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Though the overwhelming response from the media was to so-call &#8220;cancel&#8221; Gillis, presidential contender Andrew Yang, who was called a &#8220;Jew Chink&#8221; by the comic during a bit, rebuffed calls for the comic to be fired.
&#8220;Shane — I prefer comedy that makes people think and doesn&#8217;t take cheap shots. But I&#8217;m happy to sit down and talk with you, if you&#8217;d like,&#8221; Mr. Yang posted on Saturday, adding, &#8220;For the record, I do not think he should lose his job. We would benefit from being more forgiving rather than punitive. We are all human.&#8221;
In follow-up tweets, the Democrat posted: &#8220;I took the time to watch and listen to Shane&#8217;s work. He does not strike me as malignant or evil. He strikes me as a still-forming comedian from central Pennsylvania who made some terrible and insensitive jokes and comments,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think we have, as a society, become excessively punitive and vindictive concerning people&#8217;s statements and expressions we disagree with or find offensive. I don&#8217;t think people should be losing jobs unless it&#8217;s truly beyond the pale and egregious.&#8221;
It appears Gillis agreed to a sit-down chat with Yang about the comedy in question.
&#8220;Shane Gillis reached out. Looks like we will be sitting down together soon,&#8221; posted Yang on Monday, soon after it was announced that Gillis had been fired.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51858/former-snl-star-norm-macdonald-reacts-firing-shane-amanda-prestigiacomo">Former ‘SNL’ Star Norm MacDonald Reacts To Firing Of Shane Gillis: ‘This Means WAR’</a>

Shane Gillis

CANCELED: Shane Gillis Fired From ‘SNL’ Over Past Offensive Jokes. Here’s His Response.

Andrew Yang

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated on Sunday that while President Donald Trump should choose his words more carefully when talking about racial issues, Democrats are also contributing to the racially-heated political environment.
&#8220;Look, the president needs to be a lot more careful in the way that he speaks about these things because race is a very delicate and raw nerve in America,&#8221; Rice said to CNN host Fareed Zakaria. &#8220;We have a birth defect of slavery, we have a birth defect of a number of people being treated badly, and so you need to be careful.&#8221;
&#8220;But I will tell you, Fareed, it&#8217;s not all coming out of the White House,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;I hear a lot coming out of the Left on these issues, too, that I don&#8217;t like the language that is used about people — the notion that because somebody looks a certain way or is of a certain color, they ought to think a certain way. And if they don&#8217;t think a certain way, then they&#8217;re really not black.&#8221;
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZXZtkXSrtJo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
While Rice refrained from directly naming any names, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) notably received widespread backlash in July for contending that an individual&#8217;s opinion is only valuable to the Democratic Party if that person espouses a preapproved set of beliefs deemed appropriate based on their religion, gender, or race.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to bring a chair to an old table. This is the time to shake up the table. This is the time to redefine the table,&#8221; Pressley said during a panel at the Netroots Nation convention. &#8220;Because if you&#8217;re going to come to this table … if you&#8217;re not prepared to come to that table and represent that voice, don&#8217;t come, because we don&#8217;t need any more brown faces that don&#8217;t want to be a brown voice.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t need black faces that don&#8217;t want to be a black voice. We don&#8217;t need Muslims that don&#8217;t want to be a Muslim voice. We don&#8217;t need queers that don&#8217;t want to be a queer voice,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;If you&#8217;re worried about being marginalized and stereotyped, please don&#8217;t even show up because we need you to represent that voice.&#8221;
The remarks were widely condemned as racist.
&#8220;Come on, we need to all back off. We need to watch our language toward one another. We need to start to apply that golden rule — don&#8217;t say something about somebody that you wouldn&#8217;t want to be said about you – and I think we will all be better off,&#8221; Rice said. &#8220;So, I think this is a national project, not a White House project, not a congressional project.&#8221;
The former Bush official further stated that while she has been an outspoken opponent of some of the language Trump uses, especially regarding immigrants, the whole country needs to put in effort in order to heal the racial divide.
&#8220;The reason that I emphasize all of our responsibilities is if we just point fingers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we&#8217;re not going to solve this problem,&#8221; Rice said. &#8220;This is a very deep now set of divisions in American in which we&#8217;re all looking at each other through a lens of our own narrative and our own grievances.&#8221;
&#8220;That is going to backfire in a multi-ethnic democracy that is not held together by race or ethnicity or nationality, or religion for that matter,&#8221; she added. &#8220;We&#8217;re held together by an idea and we had better get back to that unifying idea or we&#8217;re going to be in very deep trouble.&#8221;

condirice.jpg

WATCH: Condoleezza Rice Has A Message For Both Trump And Democrats On Talking About Race

Condoleeza Rice

Donald Trump

Last week, newly hired &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; cast member Shane Gillis was hit with calls for his firing over past offensive jokes.
Journalists dug up commentary made by Gillis on a podcast called “<a href="https://mattandshanessecret.libsyn.com">Matthew and Shane’s Secret Podcast</a>,” his project with fellow comedian Matt McCusker. Gillis used a stereotypical mocking Asian voice and made fun of Democratic candidate and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, referring to him as a “Jew chink.” In another episode, the comic “used homophobic slurs to describe Judd Apatow, the comedy filmmaker and producer, and the comedian Chris Gethard,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/arts/shane-gillis-snl-racial-slur.html">The New York Times</a> reported.
Journalist Seth Simons posted the following clips of Gillis, sparking the controversy around the comic:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">this, again, is from September 2018 <a href="https://t.co/inYFT22zjl">pic.twitter.com/inYFT22zjl</a>
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) <a href="https://twitter.com/sasimons/status/1172263614746714112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">today SNL announced the hiring of its first cast member of East Asian descent, and also this guy <a href="https://t.co/0FAGJZJUkK">pic.twitter.com/0FAGJZJUkK</a>
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) <a href="https://twitter.com/sasimons/status/1172257211697025025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The journalist’s apparent intention of posting the clips of Gillis was to get him fired from “Saturday Night Live.”
“If your position is that it&#8217;s immoral to try to get someone fired from a job because they have a history of hate speech, maybe ask around about how they treat other workers in their field and consider whether one thing might relate to the other,” Simons wrote on Twitter.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">if your position is that it&#8217;s immoral to try to get someone fired from a job because they have a history of hate speech, maybe ask around about how they treat other workers in their field and consider whether one thing might relate to the other
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) <a href="https://twitter.com/sasimons/status/1172571106277871616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
“That Jew chink?” Gillis says in another posted clip from the podcast, referring to Mr. Yang, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/sep/14/andrew-yang-happy-to-talk-with-new-snl-member-who-made-racist-remarks">The Guardian</a>. “Commie Jew chink? Next, please, next. Gimme your next candidate, Dems. Jew chink, next. Actually, they are running a Jew chink: Chang, dude. … Yang, or Chang?”
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">today SNL announced the hiring of its first cast member of East Asian descent, and also this guy <a href="https://t.co/0FAGJZJUkK">pic.twitter.com/0FAGJZJUkK</a>
— Seth Simons (@sasimons) <a href="https://twitter.com/sasimons/status/1172257211697025025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Yang responded to the audio, saying he’d like to sit down with Gillis to discuss the commentary, noting that he does not believe Gillis should be canned from SNL.
“Shane &#8211; I prefer comedy that makes people think and doesn’t take cheap shots. But I’m happy to sit down and talk with you if you’d like,” the presidential contender posted to Twitter on Saturday.
“For the record, I do not think he should lose his job. We would benefit from being more forgiving rather than punitive. We are all human,” he added.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">For the record, I do not think he should lose his job. We would benefit from being more forgiving rather than punitive. We are all human.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1172924384539029511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Gillis was also criticized for comments made about famed comic Louis C.K., who last year admitted to masturbating in front of women after getting their permission.
“It’s not like stand-ups were looked at as great members of society before all this stuff happened,” Gillis said, according <a href="https://www.philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2018/06/11/comedy-laughing-matters/">Philadelphia Neighborhoods</a>. “No, I don’t think anything is affected. What? Just because Louis got caught… No, that’s changed nothing. He’s still the best.”
In the same interview posted by the outlet, Gillis noted that comics are quick to pull out anti-Trump jokes because the president “is so bad.”
“Trump is so bad that a lot of comics feel like it’s their duty to be like ‘I need to be a voice against him,’” he said. “It’s like everyone is a voice against him.”
According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/arts/shane-gillis-snl-racial-slur.html">Times</a>, Gillis addressed the controversy on Thursday at New York City comedy club “The Stand,” telling the crowd that he was “playing a character on the podcast and that he did not himself think of Chinese people that way.”
In a statement posted the following day, Gillis said his edgy comedy sometimes “misses the mark” and offered an apology to “anyone who’s actually offended.”
“I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss,” Gillis posted on Friday. “If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses. I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said.”
“My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks,” the comic added.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/fw7QJHLFdi">pic.twitter.com/fw7QJHLFdi</a>
— Shane Gillis (@Shanemgillis) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shanemgillis/status/1172340437752807424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Many in the comedy and media world were quick to condemn Gillis, some calling him a “racist” and seemingly looking for the comedian’s career to be “canceled,” a common trend facilitated by media outrage.
“Asian Americans are too often are the butt of racist jokes in mainstream media. What could fly against Asians without a peep would cause outrage if said against women and other minorities,” wrote famed anti-Trump MD Eugene Gu. “Shane Gillis is still employed by SNL after calling Andrew Yang and other Asians ‘chinks.’”
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Asian Americans are too often are the butt of racist jokes in mainstream media. What could fly against Asians without a peep would cause outrage if said against women and other minorities. Shane Gillis is still employed by SNL after calling Andrew Yang and other Asians “chinks.”
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) <a href="https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/1172969749426233345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
“It&#8217;s been 24 hours since Shane Gillis&#8217; recent racist, sexist, &amp; homophobic comments have come to light, and as far as I can tell he&#8217;s not yet been fired by #SNL. His resentful non-apology showed no contrition, and yet, he&#8217;s still going to have a job? Ah to be a white hetero male,” wrote Entertainment Weekly reporter Lacey Vorrasi-Banis.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">It&#8217;s been 24 hours since Shane Gillis&#8217; recent racist, sexist, &amp; homophobic comments have come to light, and as far as I can tell he&#8217;s not yet been fired by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SNL</a>. His resentful non-apology showed no contrition, and yet, he&#8217;s still going to have a job? Ah to be a white hetero male.
— Lacey Vorrasi-Banis (@LaceyBanis) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaceyBanis/status/1172581419610071040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
“As a comic who also ‘pushes boundaries’ part of the deal getting pushback. If you don&#8217;t want pushback then don&#8217;t ‘push boundaries,’” said CNN’s W. Kamau Bell, captioning Gillis’ statement. “Also the boundaries of ‘jokes&#8217; on native Chinese ppl not speaking English well were already pushed by comics when TV&#8217;s only came in black &amp; white.”
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">As a comic who also &#8220;pushes boundaries&#8221; part of the deal getting pushback. If you don&#8217;t want pushback then don&#8217;t &#8220;push boundaries&#8221;.
Also the boundaries of &#8220;jokes&#8221; on native Chinese ppl not speaking English well were already pushed by comics when TV&#8217;s only came in black &amp; white. <a href="https://t.co/DBMTB2yAPT">https://t.co/DBMTB2yAPT</a>
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) <a href="https://twitter.com/wkamaubell/status/1172375113531981825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
“As a comedian I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects. But this is just plain racist. [It’s] truly disgusting,” wrote comic Jimmy O. Yang. &#8220;Standing up against this is just as important as supporting our Asian brothers and sisters. This man has to go [SNL].”
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">As a comedian I usually side with the comedians on sensitive subjects. But this is just plain racist. Its truly disgusting. Standing up against this is just as important as supporting our Asian brothers and sisters. This man has to go <a href="https://twitter.com/nbcsnl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nbcsnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/oQS0BgqTbP">https://t.co/oQS0BgqTbP</a>
— Jimmy O. Yang (@FunnyAsianDude) <a href="https://twitter.com/FunnyAsianDude/status/1172610341278081024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
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“If your comedy is cruel, you are cruel. If your comedy is racist, you are racist. If your comedy is transphobic, you are transphobic,” GQ columnist Sophia Benoit said. “You f***ing wrote the jokes and said them out loud!!! It’s not like god dropped a notebook in your lap and you have to say these things or die.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">If your comedy is cruel, you are cruel. If your comedy is racist, you are racist. If your comedy is transphobic, you are transphobic.
You fucking wrote the jokes and said them out loud!!! It’s not like god dropped a notebook in your lap and you have to say these things or die.
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) <a href="https://twitter.com/1followernodad/status/1172569262055014400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 201</a></blockquote>
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New SNL Hire In ‘Cancel Culture’ Crosshairs Over Past Offensive Jokes. Here’s His Response.

If you are a Democrat, you should be profoundly embarrassed by last night&#8217;s debate. For the rest of us, it was thoroughly entertaining. Bernie Sanders screamed and flailed his arms like he was conducting an orchestra. Kamala Harris burst out into fits of inappropriate laughter like your drunk aunt on Thanksgiving. Julian Castro called Joe Biden an old fart, in so many words, and Andrew Yang openly bribed the audience. And this is to say nothing of the actual policy ideas put forward — ideas that include Bernie&#8217;s magical free health care for all and O&#8217;Rourke&#8217;s nationwide gun confiscation program. One wonders how O&#8217;Rourke plans to enact this program while working as a shift supervisor at Home Depot. He certainly isn&#8217;t going to win the presidency, after all, and he won&#8217;t get elected to office in Texas again now that he&#8217;s come out as a dyed-in-the-wool gun grabber.
The ABC moderators were almost as incompetent as the people they were moderating. Aside from the complete lack of follow-up questions, they also allotted absurd stretches of time for softball questions. For example, the candidates were allowed to spend the last half hour of the debate trading flattering stories about themselves. At another point, they were given the opportunity to &#8220;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-tackle-racism-mass-incarceration-debate-stage/story?id=65583080">tackle racism</a>.&#8221; It seems that all ten contenders agree that racism is bad. They all took a bold anti-racism stance and were given ample time to elaborate on it.
White men Beto O&#8217;Rourke and Pete Buttigieg were not going to let the pandering opportunity go to waste. O&#8217;Rourke said that racism is &#8220;endemic&#8221; and &#8220;foundational&#8221; in our country. Buttigieg — who, we should note, managed to make it through the entire debate and only mention Mike Pence once — declared that our nation is plagued by &#8220;systemic racism.&#8221; Buttigieg assures us that he has &#8220;the most comprehensive vision&#8221; to defeat this scourge once and for all.
But this all raises an awkward question. If racism is &#8220;systemic,&#8221; &#8220;endemic,&#8221; and &#8220;foundational,&#8221; and if the system is fundamentally structured so as to keep the black man down and the white man up, then why are O&#8217;Rourke and Buttigieg (and Biden and Sanders) even in the race at all? Indeed, how can Buttigieg claim to have &#8220;the most comprehensive vision&#8221; for combating racism while he shares the stage with ethnic and racial minorities like Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, and the Native American Elizabeth Warren? Isn&#8217;t it rather presumptuous, arrogant, and even bigoted to claim that you, as a white man, are more equipped to slay the dragon of systemic racism than a black woman or a Latino man?
The Left&#8217;s racism doctrine states very plainly that white people are inherently racist. Only white people can be racist — because only they have institutional power, or some such nonsense — and only people of color can experience racism. I doubt very much that O&#8217;Rourke and Buttigieg would disagree with this creedal statement. Yet they remain in the race. They, as inherently racist, privileged white men who have benefited from an intrinsically prejudiced system established by slave-owning misogynists, have the gall to put themselves forward as the ones most equipped to resist the very system they inherenty perpetuate. If the whole goal of the racist system is to prevent people of color from attaining wealth and power, then aren&#8217;t O&#8217;Rourke and Buttigieg only reinforcing that very system by taking votes from candidates of color? If they really wanted to strike a blow to systemic racism, wouldn&#8217;t it best be struck by their immediate withdrawl from the race?
The same contradiction arises when male candidates<a href="https://www.apnews.com/e30ec6768ce9400ea936c0ec386bece0"> like Joe Biden</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/24/swalwell-admits-im-white-man-pledges-run-woman/">Eric Swalwell</a> (may his candidacy rest in peace) pledge to pick a female vice president. If it is so important to have a female in the White House, why must she come in second place? Why wouldn&#8217;t you offer your services as a female president&#8217;s vice president, rather than the other way around? Isn&#8217;t this like saying, &#8220;I think a woman should have power — but not too much power, let&#8217;s not carried away now?&#8221;
This is what happens when you play the identity politics game. You can&#8217;t win. At least not as a white man.

Pete Buttigieg.jpg

WALSH: If Buttigieg And O’Rourke Really Wanted To Fight ‘Systemic Racism,’ They Would Drop Out Of The Race

2020 Election

Beto O'Rourke

Leftism

Pete Buttigieg

CNN host Don Lemon scolded black Trump supporters for prioritizing the economy over the &#8220;president&#8217;s racist behavior,&#8221; even though black Americans have been thriving under his tenure.
According to <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ryan-foley/2019/09/08/lemon-slams-black-voters-who-prioritize-economy-over-presidents">Newsbusters</a>, Lemon and his panel of guests on Friday attempted to downplay a recently released statistic showing that black unemployment reached a record low of 5.5% during the month of August. While the news bodes well for black Americans, Lemon and his guests said that the numbers should not sway black voters come 2020 due to Trump&#8217;s &#8220;racist behavior,&#8221; while arguing that President Obama should take all the credit for black prosperity.
&#8220;It started going down though in the Obama administration. It was 16.8 percent in March of 2010. And it dropped to 7.8 percent; a 54 percent reduction under President Obama,&#8221; said panelist Keith Boykin. &#8220;And Trump while … while this was happening denied that it was even happening. He called the numbers fake news; until he came into office and suddenly all the numbers he said were fake were magically real. And so, he took credit for the momentum that has … has occurred since that time.&#8221;
&#8220;So, we have 8.9 percent in the Obama presidency and down by 2.5 percent in this presidency,&#8221; Lemon chimed in. &#8220;As you said, it is good news. It is a good trend. But it didn&#8217;t start under this President and the numbers actually declined much stronger under the former President.&#8221;
Lemon then asked his panel how black voters will be able to reconcile the solid unemployment numbers with Trump&#8217;s allegedly racist behavior. Panelist Joseph Pinion likened the solid economy under Trump to having someone spit in it your face and then hand over a napkin.
&#8220;I think the message is something that does not resonate with black communities and brown communities simply because of the rhetoric that has come out of the White House,&#8221; said Pinion. &#8220;And so, I think I said almost two years ago to the day on this program that if someone spits in your face and then hands you a napkin, you don’t get to say thank you.&#8221;
&#8220;As you say, if someone spits in your face and hands you a napkin, how…what is that supposed to…I don’t understand that argument,&#8221; Lemon responded. &#8220;Does that mean that the only part of your brain, or the only part of our being that matters is money? Rather than how someone treats you and what someone says about you?&#8221;
The panel agreed that President Trump should take no ownership of the great unemployment numbers for black Americans.
&#8220;Donald Trump had little to nothing to do with the drop in unemployment for African-Americans,&#8221; concluded Boykin. &#8220;No one can … no one who talks about this in the Republican Party can cite a single policy contributed by Donald Trump that is responsible for the drop in black unemployment. It&#8217;s all because of policies that … that started long ago. It wasn&#8217;t the tax cut or anything like that. Policies started long ago in the Obama administration when we started to see the drop. And the other thing is that Obama had the good sense not to go out and brag about it every time that there was a drop in unemployment because he knew that it&#8217;s still too high compared to the white unemployment rate.&#8221;
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